


Across the Stars

by ScarletxNight



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Across The Stars, Gen, M/M, Soulmates, Star-crossed, parallel worlds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-25
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:53:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 1,882
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25505491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScarletxNight/pseuds/ScarletxNight
Summary: Star-crossed lovers taken literally.Jaebeom and Jinyoung met only a few days when they were 7. Years pass and both seem more hooked on that childhood memory than they would have expected.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB & Park Jinyoung, Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Kudos: 19





	1. SEVEN

Jaebeom loved the summers, he spent at his grandparents’ country house. They were lovely people with a big house and an amazing backyard, wide and full of discoveries for any kid his age. So, it came, that he tagged along his mother to stay there for a week before his school would start again. One of his favorite things was the huge old tree close to the treeline of the connected woods. Jaebeom had always been fascinated with the purple and indigo colored flowers blooming every summer, just like right now.

After a hot day with watermelon and ice sticks to get through it, Jaebeom dashed outside and down the greens to get to his favorite spot, the tree. His grandmother had told him stories of the soul tree, that could connect one's soul to another place if the counterpart was there at the right time.

Jaebeom with his 7 years, laughed at that only understanding the part, that there was maybe someone waiting or hiding by the tree, so he did what he thought would be best: he started talking to the tree like it was a human. It was one of these nights, when the sky turned bright at night. Violets and light breaking the dark night sky apart with streaks of color.

So, it was not surprising and definitely a great joy, when on that night of the first meteor shower he had ever seen, his tree actually spit out a boy his age to play with. Okay, maybe he just fell off the tree and onto Jaebeom but it definitely felt like he had suddenly just been there.

Jaebeom as the responsible 7-year old he was, took care of the crying boy, introducing himself with a kind smile, waiting for the other to speak up. “Jinyoung. My name is Park Jinyoung. I climbed the tree to see the meteor shower…” And like that they became friends right away as Jaebeom insisted was necessary for both of them.


	2. FOURTEEN

‘Dear Jaebeom…’ That sounded too weird, right? Jinyoung let out a deep sigh, leaning his head against the huge tree behind him. “What am I even doing here?” His voice was a whisper, carried by the rustling of the leaves above him. It had been 7 years and Jinyoung was still writing letters to that boy he had met so many years ago. Jaebeom.

He had only met him a few days, when they were 7 and only by this tree, not knowing his address or phone number to find him. Jaebeom had disappeared afterwards. Never coming back to the tree or the city, Jinyoung lived in. So, why didn’t he forget him to this day? Why couldn’t he just let go? Maybe it was just an imaginary friend in the end?

Jinyoung was mature enough with 14 to know, that people don’t just disappear suddenly, with no traces. He sighed again, putting his hand into his pocket, where he found a wrapper and a band-aid. Both slightly wrinkled but kept well over the years. The only proof he had of his imagination not taking the better of him even with 7.

He looked up, staring at the tree crown filtering the sunlight. He knew there were rumors about this tree on this lonely path only a ten minute walk from his school. He also knew, that ‘dimensions’, ‘other worlds’ and moreover ‘soulmates’ didn’t exist. There was no boy called Jaebeom at his whole school or city, who wasn’t over thirty. He got up and shut his notebook a little too harshly as he stuffed it back into his backpack.

Why was he acting like this? He would probably not even remember this whole encounter or what it was in a few years… Wanting to put an end to it and useless thoughts, Jinyoung got up and saw the little hole in the tree, just big enough to put his teenage hand inside without a problem.

He didn’t know why but did exactly that just to press his lips into a wry smile, of course. Only dead leaves and...something firm and rectangular his the tip of his fingers. He dug around the leaves and pulled out a weathered and old looking notebook, heart beating faster. He opened the notebook, the name on the front paled by the years and read the first page: “Dear Jinyoungie…”


	3. TWENTY-ONE

Jaebeom walked through the wilderness, missing his childhood days as he often did, when he visited his late grandparents’ home. His steps were light as he passed many old and young people, knowing him well. Little Jaebeomie, who visited every summer. The backyard felt smaller than back in his childhood but one thing had never changed: the old wide tree prospering year after year without rest.

Jaebeom felt similar, restless. In his twenty-one years, he was doing well. His studies were nearly finished, he would soon start working at a huge company and start living as an adult but then again, life felt empty nonetheless. The older he became, the more he yearned for something that he certainly couldn’t get.

Jaebeom had studied and researched as much as school and later his studies had let him but he had never found an answer or even a solution for their current situation. He had given up at some point, accepting the fact, that all he would ever get was an exchanged notebook stuck in a tree hole once a year, after the comet shower.

All he had of someone, he wished to see again for once, was an old notebook and some wrapped candies, he had never seen before. What kind of place was Jinyoung living in? Was he doing well? Did time flow the same way over there? Was he happy? Was all of this only a dream in the end?

Still, he would hold onto the fragments of what had become his sole purpose in life at some point. Was it the nights he laid awake thinking? The lonely lazy days he kept paging through the notebook he knew nearly every line by heart already? It was the simple things Jinyoung wrote about to the sad and happy moments and everything in between them.

It was Jinyoung in all of his glory and perfection. Today he would do things differently. He stepped closer to the lonely tree, everything still on the backyard as his hand grazed over the tree stump. He pulled out his notebook and put it inside, careful to lay it underneath the dead leaves, he knew only one person would look for.

Joy and pain wrapping themselves around him like a too warm blanket as he let out a deep sigh. Was this really all they would ever get? Would he ever see his Jinyoungie again?


	4. TWENTY-EIGHT

Jinyoung was nearly vibrating with excitement, which should have been ridiculous for a twenty-eight years old. Still, even that couldn’t stop him from clocking off work two minutes earlier than he should and heading straight for the bus. It was noon, when he reached the wide field, not many people around.

Jinyoung took a deep breath, doing nothing to contain his excitement as he finally caught sight of his most favorite thing in the whole world: the soul tree. He remembered well, how Jaebeom had written to him about this tree, the exact same one he was now standing in front of. A tree older than the green lands around it, many people on their side calling it the ‘soul tree’.

His phone was suddenly ringing, pulling him out of his thoughts, when he blinked down. His mother sounded stressed and worried: “Jinyoung-ah! Please be careful today. I know you like to watch the meteor shower but there have been warnings of a strong earthquake around your area not far from your old school.”

He smiled tiredly: “Don’t worry, today is special. I will take care but I really need to see the comet shower tonight, mother. It will be the strongest and brightest since my childhood. It will be worth it, trust me.” He looked towards the sky, that was unusually bright for dusk. It would start soon.

The first thing Jinyoung noticed was the stuffy air blowing itself up like it was peak summer and not September already. He huffed, raising his head from his notebook as he realized the unusual streaks in the sky. The meteor shower. It was starting soon, making his excitement buzz all over again.

This was his chance. He would finally be able to see Jaebeom, the adult version, his counterpart hidden in a time and space he couldn’t reach all these years. Jinyoung jumped up, when it happened. Just as the first stars started to burn, making him smile brightly, mesmerized beyond belief, the ground shook. The earthquake was violent but there was nothing to fall down around him, which made him sigh in relief.

It was the groaning and cracking behind him suddenly, that made him whip his head around in an instant. Jinyoung’s heart fell with the sight, not realizing the many cracks beneath his feet as the earth shook even more. Jinyoung’s breath was caught in his throat as his feet lost ground, a scream stuck in his throat mercilessly. It was the last thing Jinyoung saw:

**_The soul tree was breaking apart._ **


	5. LAST LETTER

Dear Jaebeom,

it still kind of feels weird to address you like this, doesn’t it?

This will be my last letter to you, because after today, I won’t need to write you anymore. Right? You will be here, there, wherever it is we will meet.

I can’t believe it will finally happen, you know, I thought about it a lot since I realized how complicated and impossible all of this is. I always thought: “What would I do then? Would I annoy him? Would it be awkward? Or maybe he’d be a bit glad to see me?” I bet you would be more than a little bit glad to see me...

Jokes aside, Hyung. You don’t know how much I wanted to see you for the past twenty-one years of my life. I was so confused at the beginning and afterwards so frustrated and angry with myself. Once in a while when I would wake up, I found myself crying. Sounds crazy, right?

But that’s how I knew how important all of this had become for me. How important you had become. A part of my life, that was forced apart by a greater power none of us had ever understood. Once, when I was reading one of your letters, the one where you confessed of having adopted another cat(!), I had laughed before feeling this deep stab in my heart. Pain. That’s when I realized: The reason it hurts so much to be separated is because our souls are connected.

So, Hyung, wait a little bit longer for me. I am on my way and will reach out to you first this time. Let me be the one to guide us back to here. To us. And, for the smallest possibility, should we not meet today, I wanted to tell you that, wherever you may end up in this world, I will be searching for you. Like I always did, so please don’t give up on me.

[Your Soulmate Jinyoungie](http://aminoapps.com/p/5hfuh6)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This letter contains quotes from Kimi no Nawa, the work, that inspired the whole story.  
> This was a collab with @wings.of.courage and I am pretty proud of what we made in that short time of a few days. :D


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